A Woman's Touch, Part One: Return to Life
by T. Drake
Summary: During a strange and mysterious ordeal to return to life, something goes horribly wrong for Yusuke Urameshi. Cut off from his one friend, and having to trust his greatest rival, how will he endure the coming trials?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Yusuke, stop fidgeting!"

"Stop messing with my hair!"

"But you look so cute like–"

"I don't want to look cute!"

"Why do you always have to get like this!"

The fighting could be heard from her perch in the sky, the young woman on the flying oar noted. Up on the rooftop of Sarayashiki Junior High, two figures argued constantly, two figures she knew to be Yusuke Urameshi and Keiko Yukimura. Probably the closest thing to a friend Yusuke had, save for Kazuma Kuwabara, a rival Yusuke had formed a bond with during his second case as Spirit Detective.

The woman's name was Botan. She served as a guide across the river Styx, ferrying dead souls to the world of spirits, Reikai, to be judged by the young prince Koenma. She had also been given two additional responsibilities; one was to assist Yusuke while he worked as Spirit Detective for Koenma. The other was to keep an eye on him, after the unfortunate mistake that was made during his reincarnation.

He hadn't been adjusting too well, as Botan had reported to Koenma. He had started to accept his new life for what it was, but that didn't make him any less irritable or angry to be around. He also never stopped pestering her for a solution, always asking how long it would be until they found a way to fix this. They could have fixed it the very day of the accident, if it hadn't been for...

But that wasn't important right now. Right now, they just needed to focus. Flying on her oar, she cast her head back towards the young girl following her through the air. Taking the form of an adolescent child, with dark, blue hair that drifted down past her shoulders and a long, blue nightgown, was Sayaka, a woman Koenma had assigned to talk to Yusuke. Having reached the end of his rope during the Saint Beast crisis, which his Spirit Detective had just resolved, with the help of a few allies. Koenma had decided to finally look to outside help for his Spirit Detective's crisis of shape.

"That's him," Botan called back to Sayaka, as they flew towards the rooftop. "The one on the left, trying to push the other one away. That's Yusuke."

"Keiko, would you stop!"

"Oh, come on! Would you rather get Kuwabara to do it?"

"I'm not doing a ponytail, Keiko! I'm cutting it off, and that's it!" As Botan and Sayaka drew closer, the yelling got louder. Soon they could easily make out the two figures.

"Don't you want to look your best? I'm sure the boys will be watching." The teasing tone of Keiko's voice was unmistakable, as was the flustered resistance on the other's face.

"I–quit that!–BOTAN!" The one identified as Yusuke was thrilled to see Botan on her oar, with Sayaka trailing behind, if only for the distraction she provided. It cast only a glance back at Keiko for a moment, grumbling something about "damned girly hormones" before looking back up at the two spirits. "Is that her? The expert you guys were going to have take a look at me?"

Sayaka floated forward, hovering in midair while casting her eyes back and forth between the two. She was uncertain if she should move, with Keiko in the area. Botan had assured her earlier that Keiko knew the story, that they'd been forced to explain things to her when she discovered Yusuke for his new identity. It had been earlier than they had anticipated, but there was simply no way to disguise it any longer. "So..._mister_ Urameshi, is it?" Yusuke could see the snicker in the expert's eyes, and it wasn't hard to guess why. The faint giggle was deafening to Yusuke's ears.

"It's not funny!" Yusuke's adamance only succeeded in making Sayaka laugh a little, before she managed to stammer out an apology.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's just...you look so cute!" Standing before the young spirit was a figure that, for all its efforts to look powerful and intimidating, couldn't overcome the misfortune of its figure. With long, slender legs, leading up into the much-despised miniskirt and blouse combination of the school uniform, which she had at least managed to dye green like her old clothes, and her arms folded delicately over her chest as one hip stood out to the side, she did her best to look angry with what she had to work with. Soft, brown hair trailed down her back, though she was considering dying it back to her old black. Her hazel eyes, however, were the only truly frightening thing about her, for if one were to look too far into them, they would see the face of someone who had seen more than her share of violence and pain. Yusuke Urameshi, age fourteen, a prisoner of a body that was never meant to be his.

Yusuke cast her head back towards the door, storming towards the stairs that would lead down into the building. "I'm leaving. Come find me when you're serious about putting me back." The voice that passed her lips was still strange and alien to her, the higher pitch never ceasing to sound awkward.

"I'm sorry!" Sayaka quickly whipped between her and the door, hovering in the air just in front of the girl named Yusuke. "Don't go! This is...this is so weird. How did this happen to you?" Her words brought about a glare in Yusuke's eyes, as he cast an angry gaze back at Botan.

Botan slowly raised her hand, while her head dropped sheepishly lower. "That was our fault, actually...though if you hadn't been so headstrong in the first place, maybe it wouldn't have–"

"I'm not getting into this," Yusuke snarled as his eyes returned to Sayaka. "Just put me back. You're supposed to be the expert, tell me how to get back into my body."

Sayaka shook her head. "I can't help you until I know what's going on. I need you to tell me how you got like this. What happened to you?"

Sayaka's insistence drew a reluctant sigh from the young Urameshi girl, who took back up her seat by the doorway. "If I tell you, will you tell me how to get myself back to normal?" Her voice was tired and strained, as if she'd heard this talk all before. She was tired of being promised solutions but then only being given questions.

Keiko's hand fell softly onto Yusuke's, trying to urge patience for him. She was worried about him; she had been since she found him in his new body. "Yusuke, please, if there's any chance they can help you, you should take it."

Sayaka only nodded her head. "I can't make any promises, Yusuke, but I'll do what I can. But I can't do anything if I don't know what's going on." She dropped slowly to the ground, getting closer to hear Yusuke speak. "Tell me what happened to you. I need to know."

Now off her oar, Botan closed in as well, helping to form a circle around Yusuke. She hoped Sayaka would know something, would be able to do something where both she and Koenma's research team had failed. She hoped they could find a way to help him. "Talk to her, Yusuke. It's the only way to help you."

A moment passed, soon followed by another. As Yusuke sat, her back against the wall, she thought about the way she'd once been, and how much she wanted to be back to her manly self again. She remembered everything, the way she had become a her, which seemed a lifetime ago. Finally, reluctantly, she spoke.

"Okay. From the beginning. It all started when I was struck by a car..."


	2. Chapter 1: The Mistake

**PART ONE: RETURN TO LIFE**

**Chapter One: The Mistake**

Yusuke Urameshi, dead at age fourteen. After a long life of kicking the tar out of any thug or gang that made the mistake of crossing him, he found his brutal, thug-oriented life cut drastically short by the most unexpected of means. After diving across the street to shove a small child out of the way of an oncoming car, Yusuke was struck in the child's stead, his body smashed as he flew over the car. He was dead before his corpse even hit the ground.

Yusuke was one of the worst punks at Sarayashiki Junior High, and it would not have been difficult to discern a proper judgment for him, if not for the unusual circumstances surrounding his death. Yusuke's self-sacrifice had been determined to be extremely uncharacteristic of him; he was never meant to die there, at that point in time.

After meeting the surprisingly attractive Grim Reaper, a young woman by the name of Botan, with a long, blue ponytail, dressed in a flowing pink kimono and riding atop a flying oar, Yusuke was offered the opportunity of a lifetime, so to speak. It was a chance to return to life, by enduring an ordeal that her boss had in store for him. Yusuke had been reluctant at first, but after a surprisingly emotional wake by people he'd been certain couldn't care less for him, highlighted strongest by a frighteningly emotional outburst by his longtime rival Kuwabara, and his alcoholic mother breaking down in tears, Yusuke had agreed to undergo this ordeal.

Yusuke had been given an egg, belonging to a creature called a Spirit Beast. That was his ordeal; the creature inside had been feeding off his spirit, growing off the energy he put out, positive or negative. It was becoming stronger with every action, becoming more and more oriented towards the direction he indirectly nudged it in. The test was simple; when it hatched, if it were good, Yusuke would be allowed to return to life. If not, it would devour him and that would be that.

While the ordeal was happening, Yusuke had returned to the human world. He had spent most of his time floating in the air, although he had seized upon one opportunity not long after his return. In order to prevent his body from being cremated, so that he'd have a place to return to, he had taken control of Kuwabara's body for an hour, using him to send a message to his childhood friend, Keiko Yukimura.

It was not long after that, Yusuke found himself following Kuwabara around. The worst teacher ever to teach at Sarayashiki Junior High, Mr. Akashi, had taken an opportunity to spear Kuwabara and his friends, by forcing them to not fight for an entire week, even with numerous gangs around town looking to get back at them. The stake was the job of one of Kuwabara's friends. Yusuke didn't know the guy's name until he heard him called Okubo; he had never paid too much attention to the people that followed Kuwabara around.

When Mr. Akashi added a new rule, however, that's when Yusuke was really ticked off. They had to all score higher on an upcoming test than half, 50, or Kuwabara's buddy would lose his job even without them fighting. Yusuke had spent the week watching Kuwabara get creamed over and over, while punks beat every ounce of pain out of his body they could just for their own vindictive sense of retribution, and while he refused to fight back in order to protect his friend. He had called it "a promise between men", displaying a sense of honor Yusuke had never noticed in him before.

It was here where the horrible mistake began, when Botan left Yusuke alone while she spoke with Koenma. He had spent the night haunting Kuwabara's dreams, helping him to study for the test. He had never known Kuwabara beyond another face to be beaten, and he had never realized how much the man cared for his friends. Kuwabara would never let them down, and Yusuke had decided that he couldn't either. He had to help.

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"Do you really think he's ready, Botan?" The toddler prince, Koenma, was seated behind his desk filling out paperwork. This had been his ordeal to put in place, but a recent file had brought a sense of urgency to it. "If we miss this, we may not get another chance for another fifty-two years. Maybe that would be good for him. It would give him time to think about how not to act like a complete jerk."

"You can't be serious!" Botan slammed her hands down on Koenma's desk, an incredulous look on her face. "Yusuke's been doing good, but if he misses this, there will be no reasoning with him." She'd only known him a few days, but his personality was strong. It didn't take long to come to understand him.

Koenma, however, just wasn't getting it. "Maybe he won't mind. He seems to be enjoying floating around as a ghost. He could use the time." Yusuke simply hadn't had enough time as a ghost, but there wasn't any time left.

"I know it's earlier than we expected," Botan insisted, "but Yusuke won't want to wait around for fifty years!" Yusuke's energy wavelengths had stabilized faster than had been estimated. It was almost as if something was trying to pull him back, some unseen force working to prepare his body for Yusuke to return to.

"This doesn't seem right, Botan. His wavelengths should have taken a few more days to properly align themselves. I don't want to throw him into something he's not prepared for." In the months to come, these words would seem ridiculous. However, at the time, the toddler prince was very serious. He had a look of urgency on his young, infantile eyes that worried Botan. "There's something else happening here. Something we can't see."

Botan backed down a bit. Biting the bottom of her lip out of worry, she looked down at Koenma behind the desk. "If we don't let him take this chance, what will happen to him? He's not going to float around like this forever."

Koenma sighed, resting his forehead on his desk to think. "I don't know, Botan. I really don't know."

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Yusuke had done some proud, fine work. As he watched Kuwabara stroll down the street towards the school building, his nose in a book still studying for that test for his buddy Okubo, Yusuke couldn't help but smile a little. Something inside him felt better for helping someone, even someone as annoying and often idiotic as Kuwabara. But fate, it seemed, was not on Kuwabara's side.

"Hey, look, there goes Kuwabara!" a punk from a nearby alley grinned.

"I heard he doesn't try to fight back anymore when people attack him."

"I say we go have some fun with him."

Three idiots, one stocky and brown-haired, the second decently built with brown curls, and the third lanky and tall, with blond, ruffled hair, grinned a predatory grin from the alleyway. More of the punks taking advantage of Akashi's ordeal for Kuwabara, and at the worst possible time. The blond man grinned, "Buddy, you're speaking my language!" before all three ran out of the alley, racing for Kuwabara.

Laughing and grinning, the three ran until they could see Kuwabara clearly ahead of them. The blond man, clearly the leader of the group, called out to him. "Hey, you! Kuwabara!" When Kuwabara kept walking, the man got angry. "We wanna have a word with you!" The three raced forward, ready to jump him while he walked on, oblivious.

"Oh, great," Yusuke snarled. This couldn't have come at a worse time. "There's no way I'm wasting that whole night of questions and answers because of these lame-o's making him miss the test!" Quickly, Yusuke dropped from his vantage in the sky, standing on the ground and calling out to the men, "ANYONE WHO TOUCHES HIM IS DEAD MEAT!"

This would have meant something if he could be seen or heard. Either would have been good, but as a ghost, he was completely unnoticeable, at least for the two brown-haired men. The blond, possibly a mild spirit-sensitive like Kuwabara, stopped and started to sweat a little out of nervous fear. "Hey," the short, thinner brown man stopped, "Why the hell are you stopping?"

"I don't know man," the blond man uttered. "I got a bad feeling. Why don't we turn back?"

The lanky, brown-haired man growled. "What are you, psychic? Let's go!" Not even waiting for the blond, he ran forward towards the intended ambush, completely disregarding Yusuke's vain attempts to stop him.

"I warned you!" Yusuke, growled as the men came near. Drawing his fist back for a powerful blow, he struck just as soon as the first was in range. He then watched helplessly as his fist flew through the man, and the three boys raced right through him. He had always been rather slow on the uptake, and moving on instinct, he had completely forgotten that he could not touch or affect anything in this ghostly state. As the boys ran onward, Yusuke snarled. "I keep forgetting." Taking back to the air, he flew after them. He had to do something!

As Kuwabara walked, he passed two young girls, walking back from their own class. Dressed in the school uniform, the blue skirts and blouses with yellow ribbons tying them together and carrying their bags, he didn't even notice them when he walked past, too busy with his book.

The three thugs quickly passed, shoving the two girls out of the way. It was here that everything began to fall apart for Yusuke. It had all started here, when the brown-haired girl with brown hair running down past her shoulders fell, striking her head against the wall behind her and losing consciousness. Yusuke had no way of knowing, but a horrible mistake was about to take place.

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"Botan, I don't know about this." Koenma sighed, knowing he was backed into a corner. As much as he wanted to test Yusuke further, there was just no time left. He knew he had to act now, looking down at Yusuke's papers on his desk. There were simply no other options.

"Neither do I," Botan looked down. "But it's the only way, isn't it?"

"Okay," Koenma finally coalesced. "I'll go prepare his body for his return. You find Yusuke and tell him what's happening. Make sure nothing happens to him; something is definitely not right about all this." Taking his pen, Koenma signed his name along Yusuke's paperwork, verifying his return to life. It was time to bring him back, even if it was ahead of schedule.

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"I'll get you, you jerks!" Yusuke dropped back to the ground, running after the three punks. Relentless in his pursuit, he absolutely refused to let them go. As he followed them past the two girls, however, an idea formed in his mind.

"Misako, are you okay?" The dark-haired girl crouched beside her friend, nudging her in the hopes that she'd wake up. In her unconscious state, the brown-haired girl was completely unresponsive.

"Hey," Yusuke pondered, "I know her from school." Botan had told him that people get closer to the spirit world when they were asleep, and Misako had just fainted. This gave Yusuke a perfect opportunity. Latching onto the only chance he could see to help Kuwabara, Yusuke allowed his spirit to drift into the girl's body, and after a moment of adjustment, he opened her eyes.

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"Koenma, sir!" Botan had already left on her oar to find Yusuke, and Koenma was just about to leave for the body when he was interrupted. His faithful blue ogre, whom he just called Ogre, hurried after him down the hall. "Something's wrong with Yusuke!"

"What are you blabbering about now, Ogre?" Koenma narrowed his eyes, obviously peeved at being interrupted. "If this is about Yusuke's wavelengths, I already know."

"It's not that, sir! Come look!" The blue ogre ran back to Koenma's office, with Koenma trailing behind. He could only hope that Koenma would know what to do when he saw it.

"Okay," Koenma hopped up onto his desk, "I'm here. Now, what did you want to–what the?" On the screen across from Koenma's desk, which the young child used to keep tabs on the human world, was an image he couldn't explain. Yusuke's body, resting in the Urameshi household, was glowing with a strange, blue energy. "That isn't my..." Koenma knew he had to prepare the body with an infusion of energy, so that Yusuke could make his return. But this...this energy was not his, and it certainly hadn't come from his people. It looked almost like spirit energy, but...he didn't know of any psychics in the area, and the spirits in his employ had no reason or even ability to do something like this.

"Yusuke!" Koenma realized suddenly, just before a burst of energy tore through the apartment. A massive rush of power, before the screen went to static. Koenma could feel a chill running through his small form; he didn't know what had happened, but to interrupt his surveillance, it had to have been both powerful and directed. Even with power, it would have needed to be deliberately trying to interrupt him; as if it already knew that he was watching it, and it wanted to be alone.

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"Where are you going!" The dark-haired girl called after Misato, with Yusuke at the reigns. Yusuke ran towards the three thugs, intent on interrupting their ambush on Kuwabara, relentlessly pursuing their attempt.

"Just wait 'til I catch you!" Yusuke yelled with a voice higher than his usual. It was a strange and awkward voice, but he knew he'd be free of it soon enough. Leaping into the air, he brought the girl's bag down hard, smashing it against the back of the blond thug's head. A powerful enough blow made stronger by the weight of the bag, and the heavy textbooks inside it.

Yusuke was awkward in this body, not accustomed to its weaker muscles and lighter movements. However, he was not one to allow a minor setback prevent him from doing what he needed. "You should have listened," the young girl's voice spoke, the danger inherent in her voice completely lost on the other two thugs.

"And you should go to school, girl!" Curly growled, not one to be intimidated.

"As soon as I knock you out!" Taking advantage of the speed he could get with the lighter form, Yusuke ran his new body forward, slamming the bag against each of the boys. With an aim that he had perfected over a lifetime, he struck each in the side of the head, losing his grip on the bag in the process. As the two boys fell, he grabbed Curly by the scruff of his jacket, finally venting his frustration over their attempts to stop Kuwabara. "Don't you know there's a test today, moron!" She drove her fist into Curly's face three times, before grabbing the stocky boy and smashing his head through the wooden fence on her left.

A couple more shots while the three boys were down helped vent Yusuke's frustration, and he smiled with the girl's mouth. "Ah, I feel better." It was then, standing in pride, that he was struck. A strange energy wave, unnoticeable to most, washed silently over the area. Kuwabara stopped, finally interrupted from his studying, when he felt the energy move silently through him, completely disregarding him but putting his psychic senses on overdrive.

Yusuke didn't even notice until it was too late, as the energy washed over him inside Misako's body. If he had noticed, maybe there would have been time to escape. As it was, he was caught completely off-guard, until something dark and menacing lingered in the air above him. "What the–"

Before he could finish his sentence, it began to take form, a black, monstrous creature with glowing, red eyes. A horrible black cloud lingered in the air above him, and when it laughed, he heard his own voice echoing back at him. When the horrible, shapeless cloud opened a mouth just beneath the eyes, a row of sharp, terrifying teeth could be seen. He didn't know what this horrible thing wanted, but he wasn't going to let it take it without a fight.

Raising Misako's fists, Yusuke backed up a step, watching the horrible cloud. He had never seen anything like this, but–

"**_I am not here to fight you._**"

"What are you?" Yusuke whispered with the young girl's voice.

"**_There is no need to fight you now. I only wanted to see you. What a nice form you've chosen for yourself, Urameshi. I hope you enjoy it._**"

"What the hell are you talking about!" Yusuke snarled, but the cloud dissipated before he could get any answers. "Hey! I'm not done with you!" Yusuke yelled, but only the voice lingered in the air.

"**_Perhaps not, stupid boy. But I am done with you. AT LAST, I am DONE with YOU!_**"

As soon as these words passed Misato's ears, Yusuke found himself gripped by a powerful, dark energy. Her body began to glow blue, as something began to tear its way through it, some strange spiritual power tearing at him. As he struggled to make sense of the creature's words, not understanding what it meant when it said 'at last', he found his head wracked with pain from the creature's assault.

And then, just as quickly as it had started, it was over. The energy faded, and the voice lingered in the air no longer. He didn't know where it went, but he wasn't about to let it go. This thing had come after him, and he was going to hunt it down and beat it into submission for what it had done here...whatever it had done here. He didn't know what this thing had been doing, but he was about to find out.

All he had to do was let go of the body, and he would hunt this thing down and kill it. All he had to do was let go, just let go, and he could go after it. Just let go, remove himself from this body...it was simple enough, he'd done it enough times before. He just had to let go, just let go...just let go...let go...let go...uh-oh.

"This is bad."


	3. Chapter 2: Prelude to Darkness

**Chapter Two: Prelude of Darkness**

"Yusuke! Yusuke, where are you?" Scouring the city, Botan called for the spirit she had left behind. Her oar whipped invisibly through the air, carrying her delicate frame as she scoured every corner of the city. "Yusuke!" Where could he have gone off to? It should have been easy to find him; a lingering spirit in the ethereal plane of the human world glows like a beacon, at least to a trained reaper such as herself. As a ghost, he should be easier than this for her to find.

Yusuke had been trying to help out his rival, Kuwabara, when last Botan saw him. But that was hours ago; she might be able find Kuwabara by searching the school building of Sarayashiki Junior High, assuming he was still there. If not, she could try his home, or the vacant lots where the boys liked to fight. She could find him, given a little time, but there was no guarantee Yusuke would still be following him after the test was over.

"Oh, where could he have disappeared to!" It wasn't like Botan to lose a spirit. She didn't want to think about what Koenma would do if he found out Yusuke had vanished in the middle of his ordeal. As her oar soared majestically over the food court near the school, her eyes searched frantically for some trace of a wandering spirit lingering in the air, scanning for the presence of a ghost somewhere in the area.

Little did she realize that the missing spirit she sought sat below, in a white lawn chair just underneath a large umbrella, with a metal table painted white in front of it, with a delicate frame that should have only been temporary, arms tucked uncertainly over the two alien lumps on its chest and legs tight together, unused to the open fabric of the garments that covered it.

"Four hours," the strange girl whispered to herself, oblivious to the looks those seated at the other tables shot at her. "Four hours..." Botan had said that any spiritual possession only lasted for one hour. After that, the body would reject the foreign spirit. Yusuke knew he should have been rejected two hours ago, but something wasn't letting that happen. For some reason he didn't understand, he couldn't separate from the body that confined him.

Maybe he'd done something wrong. Messed up the possession somehow, or something. Or maybe that stupid black cloud thing that had attacked him had done something to him, something that trapped him here. Or maybe he was just being an idiot, and didn't have any freaking clue, because HIS FREAKING GUIDE WASN'T HERE! "Dammit, Botan, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!"

Several students jumped when they heard the young girl scream, slamming her hands down on the table hard enough to make it jump. In a furious rage, she stood, fuming in anger and muttering to herself, though those around her could not hear or understand what she was saying. They were lucky; the words of anger pouring from her mouth would make a embarrass a Yakuza.

Yusuke was angry. He was angry at the cloud for whatever the hell it had done to him. He was angry at Botan for leaving him to make an idiot of himself, when she should have known better. He was angry at himself for putting himself in the position he was in now, just to try and protect _Kuwabara_, of all people! He was angry at Kuwabara for his stupid test, and for needing to be protected because he was too stupid to do it himself! He was even angry at the girl whose body he was trapped in, for letting him get ensnared like this!

"Misato!" A voice called a foreign name, a soft, delicate voice filled with worry and fear. "There you are!" Yusuke turned, his anger paused a moment by curiosity and dread, when he turned and saw the other girl from before, just a little shorter than his new self and with short, dark hair. "Where did you run off to? You missed class!"

"Uh..." Testing the tone and pitch of his new voice, Yusuke quickly turned his attention away. He'd lingered here too long, and Botan wasn't showing up. He needed to do something, needed to find help, but...he didn't know where to start looking. "I...uh...I have to go...away...now." Wanting to avoid an awkward body-stealing conversation, Yusuke did the only thing he could think of: he ran.

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"Guys, I just took the test and I cleared fifty points!" Pride was strong in Kuwabara's voice, as he stood happily before his three buddies. All dressed in the blue school uniform, blue slacks with a blue, buttoned up jacket, the tallest had brown and scruffed up hair. Before him stood another, with buzzed dark hair, kept very short. But neither of them were the focus at the moment, as Kuwabara's attention was turned to the short, stout fellow on his left, with greased black hair and a nervous smile; Okubo, his friend whose job had been placed on the line by Akashi if they couldn't all score more than fifty points on the test.

Okubo was shocked and relieved, but he couldn't be sure. "How did you already get the results?"

Kuwabara grinned. "I copied down my answers on scratch paper so I could check them in a textbook after it was through, and I already looked over it four times! I scored fifty-three big ones!"

A wave of relief fell over Okubo, as he stepped forward and gripped Kuwabara's hands, grateful. "Then you saved me."

"Wow, Kuwabara!" the tall boy exclaimed. "You really licked 'em!"

"Nah," Kuwabara smiled, "it was nothing. Just a promise between men."

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Four hours now since school had started, and Yusuke found himself wandering the halls of the school building. He couldn't go home; his mother wouldn't even recognize him in this girl's body. Problem was, he didn't really have anywhere else to go. Keiko wouldn't recognize him; at least, he hoped she wouldn't. He didn't know which would be worse, if she knew this girl or didn't.

Walking through the hall, he didn't know where to put his hands. This stupid skirt the girl had been wearing was starting to piss him off; it blew around and waved with the slightest breeze, and he'd learned at the food court that he had to be careful when just sitting down. He also had to watch his back; he remembered too well the times he would lift Keiko's skirt to embarrass her, and this caused him to tense any time a boy walked near. He definitely needed to find some pants; if he was going to be trapped in this girl's body, he was NOT going to be wearing this stupid thing all day.

"Hey, baby," a predatory voice spoke to his left. "If you're not–" before the sentence could even be finished, fist struck face hard enough to shatter a nose, and she walked on. She didn't even get a look at him; she didn't care. It was bad enough she had to occupy this body, she would not be dealing with idiots. Let the real girls deal with the idiots; she just wanted to find Botan.

It was funny...she'd walked this hallway so many times before, on the rare days that she decided not to skip class. It just seemed so different now, though. It was strange and foreign, and she kept finding herself looking over her shoulder, in case that dark-haired friend of her body's had found her again. Especially here, she had to be careful; she was doing her best to avoid that girl, but she'd already had two unfortunate encounters that she'd had to end fast.

Looking back once more over her shoulder, she came around the corner, still looking for some–

SLAM

And she was on the ground, toppled over by something larger than she was. Her frame was lighter than she was accustomed to, and she had gone down easier than she would have hoped. This was not swirling in her mind, however, as at the moment, the only thing she could think of was 'ow'.

She had walked into something, and she needed to take a moment to gather herself as the world swirled around her. "What the hell..." she muttered to herself; she'd been struck in the face harder than this, and it had never left such an impact. Looking up, angry, she searched for whoever had stopped her walk. "Okay, who the hell–Kuwabara?" She knew that blue uniform and red hair anywhere, and for a moment, her heart stopped beating. If Kuwabara recognized her, she would never live this down. After getting his body back, this would haunt Yusuke to the day he died.

Sweat beaded on her forehead as she struggled to stammer out something to get her away. This was worse than that girl that was looking for her. Staring up at Kuwabara, who had managed to stay on his feet probably because of her small, light frame, she tried to think of something to end this fast enough to preserve the reputation of Yusuke Urameshi. Inside, she knew Kuwabara had no way of identifying her, but she didn't want to take the chance anyway.

"Are you okay?" Kuwabara smiled, offering his hand to help the lady up. Yusuke's eyes narrowed, watching him carefully. Did he know something? Why was he being nice? He didn't even know her. But...Yusuke had seen a powerful difference in Kuwabara earlier, in the way he protected his friends. Admittedly, all he really knew before was another face to beat in, but still...he didn't trust him.

Ignoring Kuwabara's hand and pulling herself up, the girl's eyes remained cautiously on Kuwabara. "Yeah," she said slowly, "I'm fine."

Kuwabara smiled. "Good." He started laughing, a sound that both startled Yusuke and confused him.

"I have to get to class," Yusuke threw out quickly. Looking behind Kuwabara, he saw the three boys that ran with him, the only one whose name he knew, Okubo, in the front. He'd learned Okubo's name while haunting Kuwabara, but he still didn't know the other two.

Kuwabara smiled, and Yusuke was frightened by the gleam he saw in his rival's eyes. He'd seen anger a few times, seen pain so often that it was burned into his brain, but he'd never seen something like this before, and it freaked him out. "I'm sorry I ran into you," Kuwabara started, taking one of the girl's hands in both of his and looking into her eyes. "If you need anything, the angel of love is always here to lend his hands to a beautiful lady in trouble."

Time stood still. Yusuke had never felt anything so powerful before, anything as strong as this sense he was getting inside now. Deep down, what had once been dislike and rivalry was now turning to DEEP LOATHING AND DISGUST. Trying to wrench her hand out of Kuwabara's, the girl was positively mortified by this display. This was a side of Kuwabara she strongly wished she had never seen, and the images running now through her mind made her feel disgusting inside, as if worms were crawling through every orifice of her body.

In a state of complete shock, the only thing she knew how to do was strike. Balling her left hand, her free hand, into a fist, she slammed it as hard as she could into Kuwabara's face, using the impact to free her right before running as fast as she could down the hallway. She didn't know where she was going, but she had to go now. Run fast, run now, just run.

Kuwabara fell back against the wall, a strong, red mark appearing on his face. Surprise and confusion played across his face as he struggled to keep himself upright; there was power in that attack that seemed very familiar to him, but he couldn't quite place it. He didn't know any girl who could hit that hard.

"Struck out again, huh?" Okubo comforted. "What did you do to her?"

Already getting his balance back, Kuwabara's right hand gently rubbed the impact on his right cheek. "I–ow–I don't know. Must be having her special time or something. I've never even seen her before."

"She knew your name," Okubo pointed out. "She called you Kuwabara. Heh...maybe that's why she hit you. Maybe she's heard your reputation." Okubo laughed.

"Of course she has," Kuwabara grinned, no longer even feeling the blow. His ego had returned in one mighty stroke. "Because I'm Kuwabara, baby! I'm the baddest punk of--"

"Is that so?" a voice of the past spoke from just around the corner. "Forgotten me already? It's only been a few days." Kuwabara turned, spurred by the voice that he knew so well, and his eyes fell on a sight he couldn't believe. He had thought for sure he would never hear that voice again, but...there was something different about it. Something powerful, something...dark. There was darkness in that voice that he had never noticed before, and for a moment, he was afraid. He had always had a powerful sixth sense, and right now it was screaming at him. Something in the air was telling him to run.

----------------------------------------------------------

"Koenma, sir? I think we have a...a problem..." Botan's voice spoke over her communicator, a small, pink compact whose mirror acted as a radio back to the palace in Reikai. Koenma had given it to her for her other responsibility, one she hadn't had the opportunity to speak with Yusuke about. But right now, that other responsibility was forgotten, abandoned for the sake of the crisis she had just stumbled upon.

Standing in what should have been Yusuke's bedroom of the Urameshi residence, Botan was trying to figure out what had happened here. She had expected to find Yusuke, but he wasn't there to be found, in any fashion. When she had come into the bedroom, it had been empty, save for Yusuke's few meager possessions. No spirit, but more importantly, no body.

"Yusuke's body has disappeared. I think he might have found a way back into it prematurely." Botan's eyes scanned the room for any sign of a clue before returning back to the compact. "I don't know where he's gone, though. But what does that do for his ordeal?"

Koenma was silent a moment in thought. "We'll have to push our plans ahead a bit, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem. Keep the compact with you and find Yusuke. If he's in his body, he's probably going to be trying to resume his life. It's earlier than we expected, but we can move ahead with this. The human world needs a Spirit Detective, and I suppose the earlier, the better. Tell Yusuke...I don't know. Tell him–what are those?"

Koenma had seen something on the screen, something sparkling in the room. Botan turned her head, following the prince's gaze on her compact and looking towards the bed. They were small, easily missed, but she saw them now. "I don't know," she whispered quietly, as she sat slowly down onto the bed. Brushing them into her hand, she lifted them up and tilted the compact, so that Koenma could see them on his viewscreen back in his office in Reikai.

"...this is not good," she heard Koenma say. Resting in her hand were shards, golden fragments of eggshell that had been broken open from the inside. Koenma recognized the fragments instantly, and dread filled his voice when he spoke. His plans...he hadn't even considered this complication from the interference with his plans. It was still so early...how was this possible? "That thing was never supposed to hatch. Find Yusuke. Now. Tell him to be careful...he's in greater danger than he realizes."


End file.
